Mimi Usa
''This Article Contains Content From Wikipedia. '' Mimi Usa (宇佐 美々 Usa Mimi) is the studious and bespectacled classmate of Rin Kokonoe and Kuro Kagami's in class 4-1 (originally 3-1) at Futatsubashi Elementary School, who has been close friends with both of them since they were in first grade. Quiet and shy by nature, Mimi Usa's reluctance to speak her mind was initially mistaken for aloofness by her classmates, resulting in their distancing themselves from her through no real fault of her own. This eventually led to her being grouped together with the two other "class outcasts," Kuro and Rin, during a physical education class, an episode which marked the beginning of a mutual association that would ultimately give rise to an intimate friendship.17 Despite being the tallest, smartest, and most physically developed of the three girls, Mimi's knowledge of adult and sexual matters is, ironically, inversely proportional to her level of dominance in these areas: an astonishing degree of her childhood innocence has managed to survive her friendship with Rin and Kuro intact, and the clash of her wide-eyed naïveté with the sheer volume of sexual innuendo she is constantly bombarded with, intentionally or unintentionally, often results in confusion, shock, misinterpretation, embarrassment, or some combination of all four. While Daisuke Aoki has done his best to protect Mimi's purity of mind from Rin and Kuro's impromptu "sexual education" lessons,11 even her two best friends have, on occasion, stepped in to shield her from some of the world's seedier realities, such as lolicons,29 sexual harassment, lewd commentary, and underwear fetishes.27 Aoki, over time, has become something resembling a second father figure when it comes to Usa, and Usa has taken his support to heart and has a great deal of trust in him. Mimi's biggest problem, however, comes in the form of her struggle to find her own voice and establish a sense of self-identity. While her shyness, lack of assertiveness, and reluctance to stand up for herself make her a prime target for teasing and bullying, her father was always there to defend her until a work transfer necessitated his living far away from his family, resulting in the loss of one of her few outlets for making herself heard.19 Her mother's preoccupation and preference with Mimi's older brother, with whom she does not get along, and her indifference (or at least inconsideration) towards Mimi have made things worse, as she has often found herself standing alone in the face of such challenges as dealing with the verbal abuse of her old homeroom teacher, Nakamura,6 and purchasing her first bra on her own after suffering much physical and social discomfort.27 Her mother's preference for her son over her daughter leads to neglectful abuse; when Mimi tells her about being approached by a molester, she shows no concern and even tells Mimi it was her own fault, and changes topic suggesting that she stop going to cram school and settle for going to a public school like her older brother. While Rin, Kuro, and Aoki have been quick to rise to her protection and are unyielding in their emotional and moral support, since most of Mimi's defining characteristics emphasize qualities about herself with which she is either uncomfortable or that make her stand out — such as her intelligence, height, lack of aptitude when it comes to sports and related activities, and unusually generous physical endowment for a third grader — she has become incredibly self-conscious, emotionally fragile, and increasingly depressed over time. Aoki even posed as her brother so that she could go to a photo shoot for a magazine, a rather ambitious step for her. Her picture was published but it seems that no one has yet noticed that Mimi is the girl in the photo. Even Kuro was not able to recognize her friend when she saw her in the streets with Aoki the night of her photo shoot. Having fallen in love with Rin's cousin, Reiji Kokonoe, at first sight,28 Mimi received a significant boost in morale when he, recognizing much of who he once was in her, advised her to never lose hope that she would one day find someone who would understand and love her and encouraged her to not succumb to anger and hatred at the world like he did.30Though prompted by Rin a short time later into revealing her secret crush on him — which Mimi tearfully did in spite of her fear about adversely affecting their relationship — she was surprised when her friend gave her permission to follow her heart with her blessing. Despite her deep feelings for Reiji, however, Mimi is far from blind: she has noticed subtle signs of his unusual emotional attachment to Rin, and an earlier incident25 — during which she saw Rin in an uncharacteristically vulnerable, emotionally distraught state just before the two of them shared an unusual moment of non-sexual physical intimacy30 — have raised her concerns about her friend's continued well-being. Trivia * The name Mimi 'means "three" (み) ('mi) and/or "three" (ミ) (mi). * Mimi is 10 years old * Mimi's zodiac sign is Capricorn * Mimi's height is 148 cm * Mimi's weight is 42 kg * Mimi's size is 80 - 68 - 78 Category:Characters Category:Female Characters